Southeast side restaurant built proud legacy

SLUG: Little Red Barn-Photo Request 54573-August 9, 2011-San Antonio, Texas-Sisters Sandra Gonzalez Yedor (left) and Marissa Garcia are the daughters of the Little Red Barn's founders, Ralph and Lil Hernandez. their other sister, Nancy Hernandez was not available for the photo.

Photo By Robin Jerstad/Special to the Express-News

SLUG: Little Red Barn-Photo Request 54573-August 9, 2011-San Antonio, Texas-The little Red Barn steakhouse is at 1836 S. Hackberry and has been open since 1963. The restaurnant, which sells over 1000 steaks each day, is now run by the daughters of founders Ralph and Lil Hernandez.

From the start it was the stuff of childhood memories and days of $2.30 steaks.

Hernandez cut and cooked the steaks. His wife ran the cash register and waited tables.

And their daughters absorbed every tidbit their parents passed down to them.

Now they manage the Southeast Side eatery that's been a San Antonio landmark for 47 years.

You can find Nancy Hernandez and Garcia at the front booth, where their father used to sit and watch over the business he built from a small grocery store.

“As the restaurant grew, he became the proudest guy,” Nancy Hernandez said. “We're the anchor of the Southeast.”

When Ralph Hernandez died in February, the community gathered in force to honor a man who stayed true to his roots. He invested in his neighborhood when other restaurants were swept away in growth from the Southeast Side.

It's a place for everyday people and politicos; and a slice of normalness where country singers can pull on a ball cap and eat in peace.

The sisters talk of customers' testimonies of past anniversaries and graduation parties. Retired military members return for a taste of sizzling steak and the nostalgia of younger days.

And they find that though the building has expanded, things have stayed the same, just like the founders wanted.

“We feel very blessed to have a legacy that our parents worked their hearts out to create,” Yedor said. “Our goal is to enhance it and see where the future will take us.”